Cherry Cheesecake Lush Dessert

This past week I tried a couple of new recipes on the boys and they were met with thunderous applause...cowboy style, which translates to complete silence around the table interspersed with grunts of appreciation. 😉 When a dish keeps cowboys from telling the latest windy story about the rankest horse and the wildest cow gathering, it's a good sign. And if they are welcomed with such accolades, then they earn a spot in my favorite cookbook and a blog post to share with ya'll.

                              

At some point I pinned this from Pinterest and I really do enjoy trying a lot of the recipes I collect there. This one links back HERE.

       

Cherry Cheesecake Lush Dessert

1 C Vanilla Wafer Crumbs
1 C pecans, finely chopped
1 stick butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 C powdered sugar
16 oz Cool Whip
2 small boxes cheesecake pudding
3 C milk
2 cans Cherry Pie filling
1/2 C chopped pecans

*Combine vanilla wafer crumbs, finely chopped pecans, and melted butter. Press into 9 x 13" baking pan - bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. In a separate mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 1 1/2 C Cool Whip. Mix until smooth; spread evenly over cooled crust. In another bowl, combine cheesecake pudding mix, milk, and 1 C Cool Whip - mix until smooth. Spread evenly over cream cheese layer. Top with Cherry Pie filling. Spread remaining Cool Whip over pie filling and sprinkle with pecans. Freeze.

*The original recipe calls for 1 can of Cherry Pie Filling, but I felt like 2 gave the dessert a better cherry / cheesecake ratio. It also calls for refrigerating, but I popped mine in the deep freeze - because I ran out of room in the fridge and I think that's where I'll always keep it. YUM.

                              

Here We Go Again

On Monday we were 2 people short at the sale barn and although that may not be a big deal for some businesses, at the sale barn it throws everything into a tailspin. Our boss had to leave to attend her aunt's funeral and add to that the fact that my computer wasn't working and we ended up starting the sale 45 minutes late. Patience is not one of a livestock producer's / buyer's strong suit. 😉 However, it was just an unusually nutty Monday. I had to buy groceries after work because I was feeding a crew again for 4 days and I was setting my alarm for 2:30.

Storms, tornadoes and hail have been swirling around us all week and thankfully we've only had rain. I was almost home by 8:30 p.m. but the closer I got to the ranch, the darker the skies became. The sky had an eerie purple cast to it as these rainbows appeared:

And DH helped me carry in groceries in the rain. I only bought a few things because I was just too wiped out to get everything on my very long list, it was getting late, and the radar was looking like this.

We both just really needed showers and sleep, but he was concerned about the rain. If we got too much, we'd have to call off the works. So we paced and consulted the radar and paced some more. Then the electricity went out. So we fretted and finally went to bed and tried to sleep. Next morning - no electricity. Sigh. Here we go again.

This happened last time we worked too: A Four Quilt Night
We only had 0.4" overnight, but they were branding 140 hd on the East end - 14 miles away, and if it was too wet, they wouldn't be able to get trailers to the pens. And we had showers that added up to 1.7" in the previous few days. It all worked out, and the electricity came back on just after 3 p.m. yesterday. It was out for 18 hours which was 18 hours less than last time. It's sure no fun cooking for the crew on the fly like that, but they are all good sports and no-one went hungry although I missed my oven. I get to sleep in until 3 on Wednesday! Let's hope I'll get to make biscuits for the boys!

Under the Needle: May

This month I was determined to empty my little bin of Lily and Will Fabrics. I ended up getting two more baby quilt tops out of it. Quilt #1 this little Broken Dishes Quilt top:

Quilt #2 is this row quilt that is still just a top as well:

I've never made a Broken Dishes or a row quilt before. I really enjoyed making them both for the first time and the bin is empty. Well, it WAS empty. It didn't take me long to put a new project in it as I hope to make a dent in my jelly roll collection...and jelly roll project #1 is underway:

I had 2 quilt finishes this month - the Gingham Baby Quilts will be heading to Missouri on Monday:

And now I want to start about 6 more. Alas, there are just not enough hours in the day and I like my sleep! 

A Welcome Soak

Yep, we finally got that soak I mentioned we'd been praying for:

On Thursday we had 0.3 here at the house and 0.8 on the East end so this makes us pretty giddy:

Then we added this overnight:

                                                   

I almost hesitate to even post about it as I know many of you are dealing with rising flood water levels, but for us, it's an answer to prayer and it'll help get us through the summer. I think the chickens are the only ones squawking

about the fact that their yard has been transformed into a lake:

I think this desert is about to break out in a blaze of blooms and we are very thankful: